I was one of the "newbies" who were climbing in DP when Craig pulled up. We had been climbing in the same area all morning and decided to do a hanging belay/multipitch since this route could be done a bit too quickly. Once in the hanging belay a softball size piece buzzed by (I thought it was the size of a basketball at the time :-), so we quickly aborted the climb and got the hell out of there. It should be noted that this was the first hint of instability we saw that day. It should also be noted that this route was very exposed, so a quick exit was quite warranted. I am the first to question my own judgement to attempt a multipitch of it when one was not necessary.
The climb to the left, however, was nearly verticle. This is the one that Bob and partner climbed. The death-cicles were positioned quite a way back from this climb, so the ice was moving so quickly by the time it went over the edge that it was vaulted way out into free air. If this happened while bob was leading the climb he would have been quite safe because no ice would have come within 10 feet of him (estimate). The only time that he would have been at risk was the minute or so it took him to crest the edge and get to the belay. Was this risk warranted? I don't know, but I've taken similar risks many times on alpine routes and avy terrain as I quickly crossed exposed areas.
Sometimes it's good to get an up close and personal perspective :-) The perspective from the road I'm sure was quite different.
